Aleksei Ashworth
"They put him into martial arts to try to wear off some of his endless energy, but in doing so they only ensured that the rest of us would have sore and bruised shins the rest of our lives." - Ignatious Leander Ashworth lll Aleksei Lucen Ashworth was born as the seventh son to Hogwarts Alumni Jaron Ashworth and Mary Smythe-Ashworth. He joined, not only a long line of siblings but also a large wealthy family, one very proud of their Pureblood status and the land they owned. Lex's life has always been filled with adventures and journeys with his brother Drayan, most of which got him in trouble even from some of his earliest days. The troublemaker, the prankster, the brat, all nicknames appropriately given before his third birthday. It did not take long for this energetic little Ashworth to become very well known member of the family, and perhaps for all of the wrong reasons. It seemed, that despite his mother needing to take care of all of her children, and her efforts to keep Lex on his own two feet, the little ball of energy (A.K.A Lex) had no issues with making her work extra hard to keep up with him, forever keeping her on her toes. About On October 30th 2012, or Mischief Night, Aleksei Lucen Ashworth was born seventh in a long line of Ashworth siblings, following a few years behind the twins Verity and Julian. From the moment of his birth his parents and his older siblings tried to get some form of control on Lex, many times failing. Once Lex started walking, each September, it took all their mother's focus and strength to keep Lex from hopping onto the Hogwarts Express before his time, forcing her to dread the day she could finally let him get on board. She always feared the idea of subjecting the professors and staff to her wildest child. This led to her and Jaron very seriously considering homeschooling Lex, but in the end they agreed Hogwarts was an experience no one should miss. Following the tradition for the Ashworth kids, Lex had a very busy childhood, full of learning and some training, when they could pin him down. Mary had to train Lex herself, as granddad right out refused to be alone with the boy for even a minute. Though he was born a Pureblood, Lex and and his siblings were raised by their parents to be very aware of both the Muggle and Wizarding world, as their father would often times bring around business partners or associates from both worlds. Growing up Lex was nothing short of a little ball of energy, he appeared to have ample amounts of it, to the extreme that his parents had to constantly keep him distracted, working on something or playing with something, and in his earliest years, bring in extra help to keep the little ball of energy from exploring all over the manor and estate in his diaper. Personality & Traits Proud to be the loudest, the most hyper, the most troublesome, and likely the more daring of all nine Ashworth kids. Lex only seems to truly worry about how many pairs of red shoes he can buy, and the only part of going off to school he dreaded was not being able to wear red shoes with his uniform! Red is his favorite color, and he has no issues with showing that off. Lex has always had a very outgoing personality, he is not afraid to jump in to any situation, even if it looks like it is already going downhill. In many ways, he jumps in simply to see if there are any ways he can make it go down hill even faster. He is also known for going out of his way to make his friends and family around him rather uncomfortable or face-palm. This shows most clearly during the Ashworth Gala's and parties, where Lex almost always makes a surprise appearance, many times running across the dance floor in his underwear or his pyjamas. There is not a lot that can get little Lex down, but during those moments where his mood is going south, he is likely to snap and go a little bit berserk, or a lot berserk. All that energy that he usually puts into being a P.I.T.A has to go somewhere, even when his mood is sour. Though it was not too much of a concern in his younger years, Lex had slowly built up a reputation of being a child with a not so hidden dark side around the manor. It started out as small and seemingly innocent as throwing well aimed kicks or punches at his siblings thanks to his Martial Arts training, or peeving them off to the point they would have a go at him, this tactic worked especially well with Ignatious, who had always been one of the more physically strong of the kids. However, as Lex grew older, these aspects of him became much more obvious and worrisome, to the point that Mary would almost plead with her other children to do their best to not react to Lex, in an attempt to see if not receiving a reaction would deter Lex from continuing. This, of course, did not help for too long, and any attempts to help Lex see pain, or even discomfort, as something that should not be enjoyed or grinned at, failed. Skills, Training & Interests Lex went through the usual training required of the Ashworth kids, he picked up useful skills; He learned how to play the violin, but as things went with Lex, it was not the usual calming violin most people tend to enjoy, it was a lot more active, and fast. He learned French, Italian, and of course, Spanish. The usual activities and training didn't seem to put even a dent in the massive amounts of energy Lex seemed able to run on, so in an attempt to tire their son out some more, and make it worth while, Jaron and Mary decided to hire a private tutor, when Lex was just four years old, that would train Lex in the ways of Martial Arts, focusing on many types, but more heavily on Krav Maga. As his training was more private than public, and he never attended any proper classes or courses, Lex was able to start earlier, train more, do more that most kids his age would be permitted to do, and have more one on one focus to his form and his progress. Considering that his training had taken place for the better part of roughly eight years now, suddenly there were not too many of his siblings that wanted to pick on him for being a bit smaller for his age. Even though Lex is pretty skilled in Martial Arts, he continues to train, and plans to keep getting better at it as he gets older, but with the basics pretty much mastered, and then some, it is now more about perfecting what he knows. As Lex got a bit older and found that he was a lot more comfortable with his body, and that he was in decent shape for a child, Lex also started practicing Muggle Parkour,something he had always done when trying to escape his mother, but never knew there was a name for it. Once Lex learned Parkour was an actual sport that men and woman of various ages could work at and train for, he jumped right in with both feet and turned the entire Ashworth Estate into his own training grounds. Next to Mary trying to prevent Hale from joining the circus, her biggest challenge is trying to keep at least one of Lex's feet on the ground at all times. Prized Possessions As an Ashworth, Lex naturally has many belongings and comforts that he enjoys, and with a simple word can get himself so many more, but of all the toys, clothing, gadgets,even red shoes that he owns, one of his most prized possession is his Muggle Slingshot that he received from Uncle Dom, a business partner of his dads that all the kids visit in Toledo, Spain for a few weeks shortly after summer break beings. Perhaps not entirely aware of Lex's darker tendencies, Dom simply thought he was giving Lex a Muggle item that he could play with and enjoy. Another of his prized possessions is actually alive. During one of his visits with his mother to see his siblings head off on the Hogwarts Express, Mary had promised Lex if he was good then she would get him something. Lex was not all that good, he only tried to sneak onto the train three times, but since it was a greater improvement from him trying to sneak into every single compartment while Mary was kissing her other children goodbye, it still qualified and Lex picked out a red Pygmy Puff he named Bruiser. This little creature, the family noticed, was the first and only living thing that Lex guarded and protected severely, not even poking it or prodding it to annoy it like he had tried to do with Verity's cat, Sombra. Last, but not least, when Verity was about six years old she was working on her knitting skills and she created two stuffed animals, she made a Sloth for Drayan, and a Squid for Lex. Lex named his stuffed animal Inks with a nickname of Squibby to match his sister's nickname. Both boys still have them and keep them safe. Lex's Journey First Year, First Term: '' Finally the day had come and the abnormally energetic Ashworth boy climbed onto the train after giving his mother several big hugs and making sure Bruiser was secure on his shoulder. The train ride for him was great, perhaps not for the others sharing a compartment with him which, as usual, was most of the Ashworth kids fit into one compartment. The castle loomed out of the darkness and it took all of his will power to remain in his seat and not charge onward by himself. Luckily, as they got off the train, he was with a group of first years that almost all of them seemed to be eager to get to the castle, to the Sorting Ceremony. The boats bumped into the dock at the other side of the lake and the large group climbed the stairs, moving ever closer to the castle, then the front doors, then the doors to the great hall, then to the stool with the Sorting Hat. The hat called his name, and Lex was sorted as the first ever Gryffindor in Ashworth history. The school year went on mostly normal. Other students seemed to pick up rather quickly that Lex was not an ordinary Ashworth. Entering as a Pure Blood did give Lex a bit of an edge on some things, but over all there was a lot to learn at Hogwarts and Lex did his best to soak it all up, when he was able to focus. He ended up with detentions, lost points a few times, but this did not surprise anyone who knew him. The real surprise was that he had not yet been suspended. The first term of his first year went fairly well otherwise, and as the Christmas holidays drew near, Lex looked forward to going home. Upon arriving at home, the many Ashworth kids and mum finished up the decorations, something Mary always waited on her children for. Like many times in the past the Christmas holidays also meant another annual Ashworth Christmas party, and this time Lex did not have to sneak in with only his underwear, he was able to dress up and attend! So he set off a stink bomb in his mother's dining room. Before the party ended, Professor Ari took some time to tell Lex a story about the moon, and a Muggle man named Neil Armstrong, and how he went to the moon. She offered to take him up to the highest tower at school and show him the moon using the school's telescopes. He swore to be the first wizard on the moon. Days after the party, when all of the kids were preparing to go back to school, Lex took some time to bundle up and head out into the snowy grounds of the Estate and watch the full moon as it drifted slowly across the night sky, something he had done many times before. This time he had invited Seph to join him, since mere days before they had expressed their mutual interest of the moon to each other, she unfortunately had to decline. However, what he did not know, was that while his eyes were skyward, admiring the bright orb in the sky, a creature was stalking him. It happened very quickly, the creature gave chase as Lex ran, letting the boy think he stood a chance, chasing him across the grounds before it pounced. However, either by luck or fate, there was more than one werewolf on the Estate grounds that night, and the second werewolf revealed herself not only to Lex but to some of his family to save his life. Lex spent the first week back at school in St Mungos, healing up, even after that he spent a couple days at home before he was finally able to return to the castle. It had been terrible, one of the lowest points in his life so far. From that point on he knew it would take a different kind of bravery to face each day, to face his friends and family, but he would and he would do so with the help of Seph, the Pack, and of course his family. ''First Year, Second Term: '' ''Underway. Relationships coming Seph Even before he ever stepped foot into Hogwarts school, Lex knew Persephone through his two eldest brothers. They did not have much of a relationship of any sort then, he was the annoying little brother of the boy she had dated. However, as time went on, and as she let him out of locked rooms, a friendship began to grow and they eventually learned that despite their age difference they did have some things in common, their interest in the moon and it's phases. Like with many of his relationships, an incident that took place during the Christmas break in his first year, had his relationship with Persephone do a complete 180 turn. The two were able to bond in a way none of the other Ashworths could with Persephone, for none of them could truly relate to what she faced every day, every full moon. Professor Ari Lex's first official time seeing Arianna was during a Christmas party his family was putting on in their home, to no ones surprise Lex had done a few laps of the room in his underwear. It was a great first impression. The time where he officially met her was during the summer before he started school, the professor was visiting Shadowgrove Manor to meet with Tragen and Ignatious, to help them set up and organize some of their plans. At school, he did not run into the professor too often out side of class, he was usually too busy exploring, but something that happened during the Christmas break of Lex's first year in school changed the dynamic of their relationship from a professor and a student to something that Lex would consider to be akin to family. Rumors * "Some of the siblings have been heard saying that Lex was the only one their grandfather refused to train." * "During the Ashworth's summer gala, they said that Lex was 'kidnapped' by an older Gryffindor boy. Really?" * "No one knows why Mary would wait until her seventh to adopt a child, especially when the six previous children prove she is able to carry, but apparently Aleksei was adopted. It would explain why he is so different from them all." * "Born on Mischief Night? Seriously..." * "Aleksei and Persephone seem to share a rather unique bond. Odd or close, it is hard to say, but something is going on there." Quotes * "Did you know there is a lion poll dancing on the tapestry behind my bed in the dorm?" * "I got your front." Under construction